Laundry-drier



A. KENDRICK.

LAUNDRY DRIER.

APPLICATION FILED- MAY 19. 1920.

Patented Nov. 29, 1921.

LSQAQQ,

l ww? M. W A@ Umran- STATES.

PATE-NT orrics.

ARTHUR KENDRICK, OF NWTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR .T INTERNATTONALEQUZIIMENT COMPANY, 0FI BOSTON, IMIASSACBIUSETTS,4 A TRUST ASSOCIATIONOF MASSACHUSETTS.

LAUNDRY-nains.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR KENDRICK, a citizen of the United States, andresident of Newton, in the county of Middlesex and State ofMassachusetts, have invented certain new` and useful Improvements inLaundry-Driers, of which the followingis.

a specification.

This invention relates to laundry driers of the type in which theclothes to be dried are placed in a rotary reticulated or perforateddrum inclosed in an air casing' through which a current of hot air iscirculatedby suitable fans or blowers for the purpose of absorbing themoisture from the articles to be dried.

Machines of this type comprise an louter `casing for containing therotary drum, the

heating pipes and the air circulating means and are partly subdivided bysuitably arranged partitions into a drum compartment and-a blowercompartment in which are located the fan blowers which direct the cur-VY 'rents of air over the heating coils through a suitably locatedopening into the drum compartment so that hot air circulates through therotary' drumI and may be returned through a suitable opening in thepartition back to the blower compartment havi the screen to clear.,thesame.

provision usually being made to catch the lintcarried by the air fromthe drum on a the drum compartment may be returned in whole or in partto the lower compartment' for re-use, or maybe partly-or entirely .di-A

verted therefrom. Another feature ofthe invention consists in providinga construction and arrangement of screen that makes it possible to clearthe screen of lint practi- Specication of Lettersilatent. ApplicationVmea may 19,

' shaft c whic Patented Nov. 29; 1921.- 1920. serial No. 382,555. j

cally instantaneously after each run of arti- I cles to be dried v andWithout the necessity of opening the casing or stopping the machine.-These and other features of the invention will be `particularly pointedout in the following specification and will be. dened in the claimshereto annexed.

In theY accompanying drawings I have Figure'l is an end elevationshowing the location of the heating coils, the various air circulatingpartitions and the inclosing caslng.

F ig. 2 is a sectional elevation showing the linterior construction andarrangement of the air circulating passagesand-fan as well as the]adjustable shutter and dumping screen.

F ig. 3 is a detail view in front elevation showing the I neans forlocking the shutter in its different positions of adjustment.

The inclosing casing a in which is mounted the drum shaft bcarrying thereticulated or perforated drum b is of suitable shape to properlyinclose the rotary drum, the-l air circulating fans and the heatingcoils. At its front upper ortion it is provided with a door a2 for aording access to the drum for the purpose -of putting in and taking outthe articles to be dried. From a point below the bottom .of the drum band quite close thereto is placed a curved baifle plate or artition' a3which fol` v lows the curvature o the drum to a point near the top ofthe rearside of the drum as shownfin Fig. 1. To the frontedge of thisbaille plate-which extends the length of the casing Yis placed ariinclinedI partition a whose lower end is attached to a longitudinalforming a portion-of the front wall in this instance.fj,s placed alongitudinal ledge a" angle plate a.' On thefinside of a door a50 whichforms an abutment for the front edge .of the screen c the rear edge ofsaid screen 'abuttingagainst the angle bar a when the screen is in thenormal operative position fas indicated in dotted lines -in Fig. l. l

"This screenis preferably curved and at' ortion is secured to a rockextends through the opposite end of the casing and is ,mounted-insuitable bearings formed by horizontal reinforcing its 'middle plates02- which have two properly positioned perforated lugs c3 to receive thespring bolt c4 in the operating leverI c5 by which the screen isreversed for dumping purposes. The screen is shown provided at itsnormally front edge with a reinforcing f angle bar c? which in thereverse position and keep it in alinement. `Near the bottom ofrtheserves to close the gap between the angle bar c6 and they edge of thescreen and vwhich also serves to stifen the frame work of the screenfront wall ofthe casing a there is formed ,by means of the longitudinalplates as a3 forming partitions or false bottoms, an offtake passageleading to the oiftake flue tu which discharges into yan offtake pipeall at the back ofthe machine.

A screen d and an additional screen am serve to prevent the passage oflint into the offtakepipe. In the space between the baiile plate orpartition a3 a5 a and the wall if-N015 in front of the heating chamberare `placedl one or more fan blowers e through whose discharge outlets-e the air escapes throul h vthe partition a15 into the heatin g ll'compartment containing the steam coils f,

` the intake of these fans being as usual-on the side of the fan casing.

Near the bottom ofthe casing just above the partitionl a? is mounted alongitudinal rock shaft g extending through the'opposite ends of thecasing for a bearing support tol which is secured a platel orshutter gof sufcentlength to overlap the lower edge of the partition plate a5.The width ofthe ,shutter and the curvature of the screen c are so.correlated that when the screen .is in operatlve .position indicated inFig. 1, the

shutter is capable of swinging from one edge of the screen'to the otheragainst the adiat cent angle plates a6 c? while the edge of the shutteris close to thescreen so as to prevent any substantial passage of ,airbetween the under side of the screen land the upper edge of the shutter.

.To the outside of the end offtlie casing is secured the bracket ghavingan are shaped 'perforated member g4 having perforations so that the hotdry air passes to the upper part of the casin down around the upper edgeof said ba e 'plate and through the 'perforated drum and returns throughthe' screen 0"t`o the longitudinal compartment below the screen thefront lower portion of the casing. Y

If the shutter g be in the closed position Vindicated in Fig. 2, it isobvious that none of the air that has passed the drying drum will returnto the fan blowers but will pass through the'screend beneath the falsebottom a9 to the outlet flue a and the exhaust pipe all. If, however,the shutter Agbe adjusted to its extreme forward position all of the airthat has circulated through the drum will be returned to the fan blowersland again circulated through the heating chamber back to the upper partof the drum. In Fig. 1 the shutter g is shown in one of its interiorpositions of adjustment in which la portion of the air returns to thelblower while the other portion passes along to the dischargepipe. On-one end of the casing covering the compartment v'containing the fanblowers there is provided a screened opening .It which may be wholly orpartly ,closed by a sliding door It so as to admit or exclude to anydesired extent fresh air from outside.

j After each drying runthe operator dumps the lint catching screen o bypulling out'the locking pin c* forming the handle of the lever c5 andswings it over until the locking pin is engaged with the forwardperforated lug e3 by which movement the'screen willV assume the positionas shown in Fig.v 2' with its upper siderunderneath and with -its frontedge pressed. against the underside of the angle bar a". This is anoperation which can be lperformed practically instantaneously and thejar or shock caused by' the edge of the screen striking againstthe'angle bar a6 causes the collected lint to drop to the bottom of thecompartment, the shutter g having previously been shifted to closedposition as s own in Fig. .2. 'Any loose particles of.

lint adhering to the vscreen when in reversed position will be instantlycleared olf .by `the current of air passing through. It will `be noticedthat with this arrangement the screen may be cleared after each run ofclothes without lossof time and without having toopen the casing -to getaccess to the" screen `or to remove it forcleaning pur.-

poses. At the end of the day or of the weekf the bottom of the trough'or compartment.

lying below the screen and in .front of the shutter g may be cleaned'when the machine is not in useby removing the lint therefrom as a.' Thescreensl al and am serve to ref vent the lint in this compartment froescapingy into the room through the -outlet pipea11.' v On one end ofthe heating compartment is placed `a removable slide door a?. :Theheatingpipes are arrangedin :separate series of verticaly coils f asindicated in Fig. 2 and the upper end'of eachsuch vertical coils isthrough anysuitable opening or door such i i connected to an inletmanifold f and atA their lower ends to an outlet manifold f2. In case ofleakage of any steam coil the ldoor at may be slid open at the rear toexpose the coils for examination and the particular coil at fault may beuncoupled from its two manifolds and withdrawn from the casing withoutdisturbing the'other coils. This is a very useful and convenient featureof the present invention.

I believe that ,I am, the first t-o employ a dumping andself-clearinglint-catching screen that can be operated from the outsideof the machine the advantages of which have been explained.

What I claim is:

l. In a drying tumbler the combination of a casing, interior partitionplates partly subdividing said casing into a drum compartment and ablower compartment with openings for admitting the air from the blowersinto the drum compartment and for admitting the air circulated throughthe drum back to the blower compartment, an adjustable shutter arrangedto partly or wholly close the opening from the drum compartment into theblower compartment, a discharge conduit leading from said drumcompartment to a `discharge port whereby the? diischarge of the air fromthe drum compartment into the blower compartment and the dischargepassage may be controlled at will, substantia ly as described.

2. In adrying tumbler the combination of an outer casing, suitablyarranged partition plates sub-dividing said casing 1nto a blo-wercompartment, and a drum compartment, a rotary drum mounted in the drumcompartment said partition being constructed to provide an opening ltoallow the passage of air from the drum compartment. to the blowercompartment, a4 discharge flue having communication with the drumcompartment to conduct air outsidev the'casing, and an adjustableshutter arranged to cut olf the passage of air into the drum compartmentor linto the discharge compartment at will, substantially as described.

3. In a drying tumbler thecombination of an outer casing, p-artitionplates arranged therein to subdivide the casing into a drum compartmentand a blower compartment, air circulating means mounted in the blowercompartment, a rotary drum mounted in the drum compartment, an offtakeflue leading from the lower part of the drum compartment to the outsideof the drum, an adjustable pivoted shutter pivotally mounted between theinlet opening ofthe blower compartment and the inlet opening of theofftake flue and adjustable to intermediate positions whereby thecirculation of air through the blower compartment and through theotftake flue may be controlled at will, and 'means for securing theshutter in its various 4. In a drying drum the combination of f an outercasing and inner rotary drum air circulating means, air heating means, apartition partly subdividing the interior of the casing into a drumcompartment and a blower compartment but leaving an opening for thepassage of air from the drum compartment to the blower compartment,anofftake flue provided with an inlet opening in communication with thedrum compartment, a. rock-shaft mounted in the lower part of the drumcompartment, a shutter secured and vguided thereby to move into positionto prevent the passage of air from the drum compartment into the blowercompartment or theofftake flue according to its position of adjustment,a lever for actuating said rock-shaft and` means for adjustablyvlockingsaid lever in order to retain the shutter in different positions ofadjustment, substantially as described.

5. In a drying drum the combination of a casing, a rotary drum mountedtherein, air 'circulating means mounted therein, partition platesarranged to partly subdivide the casing into a drum compartment and ablower compartment with an opening left forthe passage of air from thedrum compartment to the blower compartment, a discharge opening for thepassage of air from the drum compartment to the outside of the casing,an adjustable shutter for controlling the proportion of air passingthrough to the blower compartment or to the outside of the casing, aninlet opening for admitting external air to the blower compartment, andmeans for controlling-the size of said inlet opening, substantially asdescribed.

6. In a drying tumbler the combination of a casing, a rotary 'drummounted therein, air circulating means 'mounted therein, partitionplates arranged to partly subdivide the casing into a. drum compartmentand a blower compartment with a communicating opening to allow the airfrom the drum compartment to enter the blower compartment, a screenarranged in the drum compartment to prevent the lint from passing intothe blower'compartment said screen being movable into dumping positionto discharge lint therefrom, substantially as described.

v7. In a drying tumbler the combinationl of a casing partly subdivided.into a drum compartment and al blower compartment witha communicatinopening to allow the passage of air from t e former to the latter, adischarge lopening for said drum compartment leading outside of thecasing, ad-

. air into the blower compartment or the discharge passage respectively,and adjustable means for'` regulating the admission of external air intothe casing to take the place of the air discharged therefrom,substantially as described.

8. In a drying tumbler the combination of` a casing partly subdividedvinto a drum compartment and a blower compartment With'a communicatingopening for the pas- Sage of air from the former. to the latter, a drummounted inthe former compartment, and a fan mounted in the lattercompartment and a pivoted screen for retainingthe lint from the airissuing from the drum, and means .for-shifting said screen V from normaloperative-position to dump,

lng

A, su stantially as described..

position to discharge `the lint therefrom,

9. .In a drying drum the combination of a. containing casing havinginterior air defleeting plates, a rotary perforated drying drum mountedtherein, a heating coll and airv circulating means for circulating theair over the heating coil through the dry-- ing drum, -a screen arrangedto intercept the lint carried by the air escaping from the drying drum,said screen being reversible to permit clearing the screen ofaccumulated lint at will, substantially as described.

l0. In a drying tumbler the combination of an inclosing casing providedwith internal deflecting plates and a perforated drying drum rotatablymounted in-said casing, air heating coils, means for maintainin thecirculation ofv air over the heating coils and through the ldrum andback again to the heating coils and drum, .a shutter* adjustably mountedin the casing'to dei-lect a part or the whole of the air escaping fromthe `drying drum to the outside of the casing according to its positionof adjustment,

and a pivotedzscreen mounted adjacent tol said shutter and movableatwill into position to dump the accumulated lint therefrom,substantially as described.

11. In a drying tumbler the combination of a casing partly subdividedinto a drum compartmlent and a blower compartment with a communicatingopening to allow the current of air issuing from the drum compartment toenter the blower compartment, a rotarydrum and a fan mountedrespectively in said compartments, a curved lmt ycatching screen mountedin the lower portion of the drum compartment, an oftake liue forconducting the air from the drum to the outside ofthe casing, a.pvotally mounted shutter shiftable along the under side oi said curvedscreen and means positioning said shutterv in `various positions ofadjustment to permit the air'from the drum to pass. either into thevblower compartment or the oii'take or partly into both in the desiredproportions, substantially as described.

12. In al drying drum the combination 'of a casing inclosing a drumcompartment and a blower' compartment,` a rotarydrum mounted in theformer and afan inthe` latter compartment, openings being provided forthe discharge of' the moist air from the drum to the outside of thecasing or to the blower compartment,v a re- :ARTHUR KENDRICK.v

